"Judging a book by its cover" and "throwing out the baby with the bath-water" aside, what did you think of the lateral/rotational stuff in Boyle's book?

I also have a Ross Enamait book. The cover looks like he zipped if off using an old MS Word program and his first description on how to squat is flat out, totally, "Matt Furey"-esque, wrong. If I'd dismissed it based on this then I wouldn't have it as one of the best anaerobic training manuals I've come across to date.

With regards to isolation v. functionality. IMO, the two concepts aren't always mutually exclusive. An Abmat situp could be labeled 'isolation work' but does that mean it makes no contribution to functionality? Heavy squats tell me they do.

Mike Boyle only has best intentions with his ideas. Coach Boyle uses "Isolation" exercises to help turn on muscles that have a hard time firing such as glute medials. It's pretty common to see peoples knees cave in towards their midline when squatting, that is a sign of weak glute medials and/or tight adductors. Mike would correct this using isolation exercises.

He's based in science as well as real world experience. All I'm saying is give him another chance.

I know, I know, I'm totally pre-judging him, but I get instantly turned off when I hear someone preaching isolation work as functional. And I've got an answer for someone with weak glut medials and/or tight adductors, push your knees out! It may seem simplistic, but it works, and a hell of a lot better than I've seen isolation exercises work. I really liked Ido's quote from the thread on isolation vs. function, "your body is a system working in integration, and not in isolation." IMO, if you truly swallow the depth of that statement, you would abandon isolation work. I came from the world of isolation work, a 4 year degree in Exercise Science, and 2 years working in a Physical Therapy office. I've seen much better results pre- and re-habing with compound functional exercises than I ever saw with isolation work.

Robert - I haven't checked out the isolation stuff in his book, because I almost threw up when I read his article on "The Functional Controversy", but if you think it's legit, I'll check it out. How are abmat situps isolation work?

jason et al make a good point--compound functional movements are ideal in most instances in terms of their ability to develop the athletic qualities we're after, BUT unfortunately there are circumstances in which they're either inappropriate, inadequate or even potentially dangerous. as a trainer/coach, unless you're fortunate enough to immediately land a position in a professional team or similar, you're going to have to deal with individuals with less than ultimate capacity, athleticism and conditioning. in these cases, no amount of brilliant coaching cues or articulate discussions of the beauty of natural movement will be sufficient. the ultimate goal, of course, is to bring these individuals up to a level at which they're capable of performing these higher-order movements, but there must be a progression and part of that progression is their relearning body control. certain isolation movements are appropriate for this.

anyone familiar with CF has been indoctrinated with the notion that all isolation movements are strictly bodybuilding movements and have no place in athletic training--but a survey of successful coaches and programs will demonstrate that this is simply not true.

there are even odd cases like that jay schroeder makes for allowing his players to perform curls--curls make big arms, big arms make confident players, confident players play better. that's about as indirectly functional as it gets, but if you get past the initial knee-jerk, it's legitimate. not that i agree all athletes should be doing curls for this reason, but the point is that blanket statements like "isolation exercises have no legitimate uses" don't hold water.

Try some "conans" with a rope or towel tied around a kettlebell handle. Swing the kb around your head with 1 or 2 hands while keeping the feet planted. This activity should be done outdoors for safety reasons.